Blog: Inside the UC Davis Medical Device Development Graduate Program — A Student’s Experience at MD&M West
Meet Martin Croshaw
Over the last five years, I have had the delight of calling UC Davis my home away from home. It’s given me the space to grow from a green community college student to a graduate student in the biomedical engineering department’s new M.Eng. in medical device development program.
I strive for a life with experience both in the medtech industry and in teaching. The Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development, or MDD, program at the University of California, Davis, not only gives me more technical knowledge in product development and hard skills, but it is also helping shape my mind to be a better leader.
A huge opportunity that was presented to my cohort was the Medical Device & Manufacturing, or MD&M, West conference in Anaheim, California. Katherine Stephenson, my instructor in the Product Development series known as Dr. Kate for short, strongly advocated our attendance at this convention, the West Coast’s most comprehensive manufacturing event.
She said it would be an enlightening experience to see what the research and sales sides of medtech look like and allow us to expand our networks with a wide range of companies.
How I Gained an Insider’s Perspective on Medtech
Despite the conference being a 7-hour drive from UC Davis (as a Californian, anything more than two hours feels like going cross-country), my classmates and I were sold on the opportunity to learn more about our field and get to know one another more personally.
We showed up at the crack of 10 a.m. to meet Dr. Kate at the Anaheim Convention Center. Little did we understand, but past those MD&M West conference doors, she would be our lighthouse in the sea of chaos.
Each major section, including medical device and manufacturing, general design and manufacturing, plastics, and automation and packaging, had hundreds of booths. Amidst the tables, connected by dozens of aisles, were hundreds of individuals looking to buy new products or pitch their own. A constant hum of conversations and whirring of showpieces like textile weavers and PPE applicators filled the conference floor. If you’ve ever been to a convention like Comic-Con, it’s just like that, but with medical devices everywhere.
Dr. Kate first guided us through the general Medical Device & Manufacturing section, of which there was a ground floor and a basement. We couldn’t stop at every stall, but she had a piece of wisdom to give on almost every company we passed.
“You really never know who you are going to run into! That was an amazing connection to make,” Dr. Kate said, pocketing Michael Maloney’s business card (a cofounder of SilcoTech, a leading manufacturer of liquid silicone for medical devices).
I’ve had wonderful professors in my time at UC Davis, but these moments left me in awe. Her experience, confidence and passion for the medtech industry reminded me that the professors in the medical device development graduate program don’t just teach: each one of them lives and breathes medtech.
How UC Davis Supports Students, Fosters Lasting Community
The MD&M conference surprised me in another way: a reunion! As our tour of the massive Medical Device & Manufacturing section was approaching its end, I noticed someone waving at me through the crowd. Annam Gunney, a connection I had made years ago through AvenueE, recognized me.
AvenueE is a UC Davis transfer retention program for engineering students, organized by Yesenia Cervantes-Tucker and Shannon Long. They provide resources, counseling and planning for transfer students (I transferred to UC Davis in 2021) that I found to be essential for navigating my way through the second half of my biomedical engineering undergraduate degree. On top of providing essential resources, Yesenia and Shannon also fostered the growth of community within the program, and its partner program LEADR (same sharing of resources, but for first-year students).
That’s how I met Annam, who was a mechanical engineering student. Now, he works at Cobalt Polymers in Healdsburg, California.
It was very unique to be welcomed to this MD&M space by a member of that familiar AvenuE community and to see how much he had grown into his position in industry. If you’re reading this as a prospective engineering student at UC Davis, I would highly recommend looking into either the LEADR or AvenueE student retention programs.
Thank you for flagging me down, Annam, and thank you to Yesenia and Shannon for fostering a community that lasts years after graduation.
What I’m Taking Away from the MD&M West Conference
This adventure to MD&M West was a very unique focal point in my career as an engineer in medtech.
I saw the expertise of my professor, Dr. Kate, as a professional in product development. I saw the vastness of the industry that I’ve been pursuing in my education. And in contrast, I witnessed just how small the industry can be, and how likely it is for me to run into old friends.
To me, pursuing any degree or life path isn’t worth it if building meaningful relationships isn’t a part of it. Through my undergraduate degree, the MDD graduate program and now this experience, I have been surrounded by wonderful and thoughtful people who share their knowledge and experience to help those around them.
I know that once my days in academia are behind me, I’ll gladly take the opportunity to share my love of biomedical engineering at a conference like MD&M West. See you on the floor some day!